It was so pretty, red and glowing where it had been black and boring minutes before. So I reached up and touched it — the spiral element on the electric stove — and burned my hand badly.
You'd think I'd have learned my lesson.
But no. Some time later, at an electronics store circa 1993, I saw the 3DO gaming console. It was so pretty, playing music and slideshows where there had only been games before, so I reached out with my new credit card and bought it.
The total, including one game, came to almost $800. And little more than a year later, I was left with an unsupported platform. If i wanted to play any of the hot new games coming out, it meant shelling for a PC or a new console. So I got a library card and didn't play another game for four years.
Now I treat buying electronics — especially the kind that play video games — the same way I do stoves: with respect and a little fear.
With those lessons in mind, let's survey the available choices, as 2007 comes to a close, for video-game hardware.
Configure to your needs
To avoid getting burned again, I try not to get too attached to extra features that look good on paper. The new breed of consoles — the Nintendo Wii, Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 — offer various multimedia bells and whistles. The Wii ($279) and PS3 ($400 to $500, depending on hard-drive size) allow you to browse the Internet on TV screens using a wireless or wired broadband connection. The PS3 plays high-definition Blu-ray discs in addition to DVDs, and it allows you to rip and store music CDs and digital photographs.
There are various Xbox 360 configurations running up to $500, and there is a new entry-level model ($300) with no hard drive, which means no storing music or pictures. The 360 plays DVDs and there is an add-on drive for HD-DVDs that costs $200. And there are plans for a video download service — consumers in the United States have been downloading movies and TV shows for almost a year — but there is no word as to when that video marketplace will move north of the border.
But pay little attention to the bonuses and possibilities behind the curtain. My general principle is to buy a machine that matches my needs, beginning with the games I want to play: When I go a store, I definitely check out the software aisles first.
Variety and exclusivity matter
Many titles come out on multiple platforms — on consoles, portable devices and home computers of the Windows and Mac varieties — but each platform has its exclusives, games you can't play on anything else.
The Nintendo Wii, out for a year now and enjoying strong support from consumers and developers, has Super Mario Galaxy and many other kid-friendly adventures that emphasize group and family play with a new spin — innovative motion-sensing controllers. The Wii also handles GameCube discs and it has a virtual store where older games — some of them Nintendo classics, some of them not — can be downloaded.
The DS, Nintendo's dual-screen portable ($140), is about the size of a calculator and has a long list of Mushroom Kingdom favourites, including a new Legend of Zelda, The Phantom Hourglass and a few games that might appeal to older players, such as the Brain Age series. For first-time game players of all ages, the DS is a good place to start.
